Quote Originally Posted by ncfcog View Post
Of course there will always be a degree of overreaction in cases like this, it's human nature. The question is whether or not that overreaction is justified.

When it comes to loss of life then being over cautious is very much justified, however fighting each other in supermarkets for bog roll is just stupid.

When it comes to the economy then this overraction/over cautiousness could be very damaging. I've always been open about my business struggles on here and I'm happy to be open again.

On thursday last week we had an order "put on hold" worth £45k because the client had decided they didn't want to make any financial commitment until they were sure how the virus will affect their own business, customers and supply chain. I can understand that but we had budgeted for that £45k in March, it won't be there and I'm not sure how or even if we will replace it.

Yesterday I visited a site in Bristol to continue an installation we have there only to find the car park half empty. Talking to the owner he mentioned that they are only allowing people to visit site that they deem critical to the continuation of business. All of the temp/agency staff they use have been told they cannot work there for the foreseeable future and to make matters worse they have decided to postpone work with ourselves that was going to net us another £30k+.

I fully acknowledge the need to be over cautious for the sake of stemming the spread of this virus and ensuring lives are not put at any more risk than necessary, but unfortunately the impact on the economy will have many casualties of their own and this of course will also have a serious impact on health and wellbeing.

So, to answer your question I do think initially there was degree of overreaction, generally brought on by the media and social media, however, I do think as time passes and it starts to hit people in the pocket many will start to throw caution to the wind.

For everyones sake, lets just be sensible, it's not hard is it?

Great post. Thank you.


We in this country, are playing catch up from a disadvantaged position. Our relatively spoiled populace, are used to feeling deprived if their internet connection is slow.

On our local community facebook page, the consensus was that we should lock down the country to prevent foreigners bringing in the virus. "oh yes, spot on". Until that is, some one pointed out the number of European and British drivers crossing the channel daily. Bringing the food and consumables on which we rely. It went quiet after that.

Wait till the merest wiff of fuel supply shortages gets out and watch the reaction. We have much more to worry about just now than infection alone.